Ex-Clinton aide says Bill lost the nuclear codes
Former President Clinton lost the codes to nuclear war the day the Monica Lewinsky affair broke, was MIA in the fall of 1998 when a decision was needed on the killing of Osama bin Laden, and was "too busy watching a golf match" to OK a 1996 bombing mission in Iraq, says a blockbuster new book by Clinton's former military aide. Lt. Col. Robert Patterson, who carried the nuclear "football" from May 1996 to May 1998, crosses a line no other "mil aide" has before in condemning his commander in chief in Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Compromised America's National Security. "This story had to be told." But a Clinton national security aide, William Danvers, tells us Clinton was never "unavailable for key" decisions and didn't jeopardize U.S. security. One story: The day the Lewinsky scandal broke, Clinton was to trade in his "biscuit" with the nuclear launch codes. But they were missing. "We never did get them back," says Patterson. Then there's bin Laden: Clinton ducked calls from the Situation Room to OK a Tomahawk attack in 1998, then waffled until it was too late.
Gephardt's path to the mound
Rep. Dick Gephardt begrudgingly concedes the analogy between baseball and the presidential campaign he has joined: "You'd call this spring training." But, he asks, why spoil baseball with politics? Especially when jawing about his St. Louis Cardinals. Sure, the Missouri Dem is running for prez, but he is even more focused on box scores. "Baseball is the deal," he says. Since his milkman father couldn't afford Redbird tickets, Gephardt recalls, he re-enacted games in his yard as a kid. "I slept, drunk, and ate baseball. I wanted to be a Cardinal; that was it." But politics, not Busch Stadium, called. Fast-forward to Mark McGwire's 1998 bid to best Roger Maris's 61 homers. Thanks to his wife's gift of DirecTV's baseball package, Gephardt saw the record breaker. "I cried." He jokingly calls satellite TV "the biggest breakthrough in technology in my life." Back to politics. I asked if he's ready for the presidential obligation of making the first pitch on opening day. "Oh," he says, smirking, "I think I can take care of that problem."
Blue and gray
The White House is quietly switching out those official portraits of a youthful President Bush in federal offices. The new one shows a happy Bush with very gray hair. He's also sporting a tie in his new favorite color: blue. It was red in the old picture. "We're just maturing him up a bit," says one Bushie.
CNN gets FOXy
CNN's year-long campaign to shed its liberal image and be more like conservative-leaning Fox is working. GOP bosses like House Majority Leader Tom DeLay even worry that they're on the network too much. "We've done so much; we have to do more on Fox," says a House leadership aide. "We believe in competition." But Republican leaders still have a ban on appearing on CNN's Crossfire. Hosts " [Paul] Begala and [James] Carville are just too liberal," says the aide.
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